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Established by educator Marion Kingsbury in 1938, Kingsbury
is the oldest nonprofit educational organization to address
the needs of children and adults with learning disabilities
and differences in the Washington, D.C. area. Although
The Kingsbury Center has come a long way from a small
Washington apartment to a 57,000-square-foot building
in the Carter Barron neighborhood on 14th Street, N.W.,
the Kingsbury vision for teaching students with learning
difficulties has remained steadfast.
It was as a primary school teacher in Milton, Massachusetts,
that Marion Kingsbury first became aware of reading
problems in young children. After she moved to Washington,
D.C., with her husband, Slocum, Mrs. Kingsbury set out
to learn more about helping children who were behind
in reading.
In September 1938, Marion Kingsbury founded The Remedial
Education Center with two colleagues. Mrs. Kingsbury
led the first tutor-training course that fall, and the
center began tutoring children with reading difficulties.
Early on, she recognized that "remedial" students
were quite often as intelligent as their classmates,
and she worked to educate parents and teachers about
learning difficulties. In the late 1940s, Mrs. Kingsbury
founded the National Association of Remedial Teachers
to unite and educate teachers of students with learning
difficulties. The center began offering diagnostic testing
for children in the fall of 1946, utilizing the team
approach that the center maintains today.
When Marion Kingsbury retired as director in 1964,
the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the
organization from The Remedial Education Center to The
Kingsbury Center in her honor. Marion Kingsbury's educational
philosophy held that individuals with learning disabilities
can be taught effectively only when instructional methods
and curricula are tailored to each student's unique
learning needs. Sixty-five years and thousands of students
later, The Kingsbury Center still abides by this philosophy.
Each year, Kingsbury serves nearly 1,000 children, adults
and families with educational, diagnostic, psychological,
and tutoring services. Our teachers, psychologists,
diagnosticians, and tutors bring to bear a wealth of
training, experience, and expertise, along with a genuine
love for helping children and adults with learning difficulties.
In addition to our three core programs—Kingsbury
Day School, Diagnostic and Psychological Services, and
Tutoring Services-Kingsbury participates in a number
of smaller programs throughout the community.
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When renovation of the building is complete,
the center will have ample room to implement
its primary goal of adding new services,
serving new groups of children, and expanding
the scope and depth of its professional
offerings, both in-house and for the community
at large. Here are some highlights:
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is a program in which
Kingsbury master tutors work with classroom
teachers in four D.C. public schools,
helping them to identify children who
are at risk for learning difficulties
and providing appropriate intervention.
In addition to working with individual
students, the tutors help teachers to
develop effective strategies for teaching
students with learning difficulties.
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is a project of Children's
National Medical Center. Kingsbury works
in conjunction with the Pediatric Mobile
Clinic to provide educational and social-emotional
testing for children whose families
lack the financial resources to pay
for such services. Kingsbury's licensed
psychologists travel to community locations
in southeast Washington to perform the
testing, providing reports and recommendations
for further action to the children's
families. |
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are available through
Kingsbury's Tutoring Services. In addition
to individual tutoring, Kingsbury tutors
regularly teach courses to prepare students
for standardized tests, to promote organizational
and study skills, to teach keyboarding,
and to help students write clearly and
effectively. Test preparation is available
for the SSAT, SAT, GED, GRE, LSAT, MCAT,
and GMAT. Kingsbury also regularly holds
courses for regular education teachers
to help them develop strategies for
working with students with learning
difficulties. Please see our News and
Events section for information on current
and upcoming courses. |
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is an important part of
Kingsbury's work. We often host members
of the education or psychology community
to talk about current research in learning
disabilities, teaching and parenting
strategies, or other issues of interest.
These events take many different forms,
from informal discussions to professional
lectures to day-long symposia. Stay
tuned to the News and Events page for
announcements of upcoming events. |
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As Kingsbury pushes forward with our plans to expand
the Upper School program and extend tutoring and diagnostic
services to more families, we have not lost sight of
our beginnings. Like Marion Kingsbury, we remain focused
on helping each individual expand his or her capacity
for learning, building on strengths and interests to
overcome learning difficulties.
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